Promise and Hate
by Victoria Yukimura
Summary: Peter Pan always fulfills all the promises he made. When he makes a promise to Henry, he will do everything to keep it. No matter the cost. And the cost may be something nobody expected, and it will cost Pan's life. But if there is one thing Henry learnt in Neverland, it was that Peter pan never fails, and when you think about it, dying does counts as failing.
1. Chapter 1: Promise

**Prologue:** Promise

**Warning:** A bit OOC with pretty much everyone and especially Pan. Dark stuff in next chapter, along with the full warning.

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It was dark and it was night, two sets of footprints were left in the rather wet jungle floor. One deeper, made by inexperienced, childish feet. Another by a boy, frozen forever in the age in seventeen. The frozen boy's name is called Peter Pan.

Usually Pan's prints are light, quiet, like those jungle cats that the lost boys run from, or fell prey to. It also doesn't help that today is going to be The Day he has waited for five hundred years, the reason he is chosen. He spared a glance to the little boy walking behind him, Henry, suddenly pained to steal a young boy's life to fuel his own.

He has no other choice. It is the reason he was plucked out of his home in England and dumped in Neverland. He has to find the heart, to save his life, and he lives of the island he has grown to love.

It is unlike Pan to attach himself to anyone; it is not the way he has been brought up. He once tried to get close to someone, decades ago, with Wendy; and look where that got them. Peter Pan is still Peter pan, and Wendy now spends the majority of her rather permanent stay in Neverland inside a bamboo cage, suspended by thick ropes, couple of feet of the ground.

"There is a price, isn't there?" Henry suddenly spoke up, shattering the uneasy silence and startling the immortal teenager. Pan mentally kicked himself, he is way too distracted. Focus!

"Yes… Magic always comes with a price; saving magic has an even bigger one." He replied. Tone soft, desperately trying to hide the bitterness that crept into his voice.

Pan took a deep breath and for god knows how long, he spoke the full truth: "Your life in forfeit if you are willing to give up your heart." The kicking didn't stop.

"Would I die?" Pan is quite surprised at the calm tone Henry's voice too. He really hopes his masking of emotions hasn't been affecting Henry. Balefire and that Emma Swan girl would be devastated if their son grew up to be like him and, of course, his grandfather. If he grew up at all.

"Not immediately. You would be asleep. Then slowly, your life would be taken away. You probably won't feel a thing." They kept on walking, one in front, one behind, a foot apart. Pan fought with a grimace that threatened to form on his face, not looking back at the small boy with the determined footsteps.

"It's too bad then, I would've liked to say good-bye. My family must've gotten on the island by now. Still, a promise is a promise." His words finally cracked, soft crystal tears began to fall, one by one, adding to the moisture on the always damp jungle floor. They kept on walking.

Pan stopped abruptly, causing henry to crash into him, catching his arm before he fell into the dirt. In a surprising turn of events, Pan wrapped his arms around the smaller and pulled him into an embrace. Henry stiffened but slowly relaxed. Pan placed his head on Henry's deep brown locks, and held him tight.

"Let it out Henry," He whispered, "Let it all out." Henry obeyed, letting out all of his fears, his frustrations, and his bent up emotions since coming to Neverland in hot, salty tears.

Pan has no idea what the hell he is doing. Or why he is doing it for that matter, he thought his heart had hardened after the Wendy fiasco. It has been decades since he held someone out of sheer compassion, and hundreds of years before that he had been held for the same reason.

The pitiful tears demolished the walls that guarded the immortal's heart and penetrated his soul. He wanted nothing more than to stop those tears and the reason behind it. He could do it, he knew, but he lacked something to fight for. Pan had never realized how selfish he really is before that moment.

"Do you trust me Henry?" Pan asked, out of nowhere. Henry paused, before nodding.

Carefully prying the boy away from his chest, Peter Pan bent down, going to the same level as him, he remembered this act when he is visiting the other world from time to time. "I solemnly swear that I would not let you die for me, or anyone else as long as Neverland still stands. I will not let any harm befall you as long as I can prevent it." Henry continued to stare at Pan with wide open eyes.

"I have seen knights pledge their loyalties to their lord on my trips 'outside'. They always give their superior a token to signify their oath." He smiled sadly and reached into his pocket, "Here, take this. This will be a symbol of my promise to you Henry, and it also represents my will not to break it." The immortal teenager handed the object to the mortal boy, pressing it into his palm.

It was a pendant, made by someone with a lot of free time in their hands. An intricate Greenleaf was carved into a yellow stone, threaded with a piece of thin red chain and a couple of black beads. "It was my mother's. Before Neverland. I don't remember much of anything before, so this is the only thing I have left to remind me that I'm not always Peter Pan. She made an oath to me too, giving me that to promise it." He paused, green eyes wistful, letting the information sink in, "Keep it safe Henry."

Henry seemed still in bright shock, unable to fully comprehend what just happened. There is silence as he tries to form words. "Do you really promise?" He chokes out, grasping at the fragile thread of hope dangling in front of his eyes.

Pan actually smirked by this and began to push Henry along the path which leads to the small docks and eventually, Skull Rock. He chuckled, "I may not always be the most well-behaved boy in the universe, but I always keep my promises, especially ones in that magnitude." For some reason, Henry couldn't help but believe him, even laughed along. His hand never leaving the pendant around his neck.

"No matter the cost." Pan breathed, silently adding. He knows full well the price he is going to pay with that promise, the punishment for disobedience and a lot of other ones he refuses to think about. He knows fully well what He is capable of.

_No matter the cost._

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**A/N: Is it just me or is the promise thing too formal? If it is, then blame everything of the Lord of the Rings fanfictions I have read lately. Disclaimers see author's profile.**

**I am still on with the Big-Three ways of writing. Prologue, Actual story and Epilogue. What do you think? Took much? I think this is one of the stories that could come easily.**

**Updates will be soon. I think.**


	2. Chapter 2: Pendant

**Chapter one: **Pendant

**Warning:** A bit OOC with pretty much everyone and especially Pan. Dark stuff in next chapter, no slash. Character 'Death' eventually.

**Disclaimers see Author's profile page.**

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Emma Swan is many things, the Savior, a lost girl, a woman, a sheriff, a daughter, a Bails Bonds person, a mother; and now, the mother part of her wants to break down and sob over Henry's unconscious body while the savior part wants to strangle Peter Pan, cut off his limbs one by one, stuff them in a suitcase, stick it with a thousand steak knives and dump it in the see for the mermaids.

That little bastard has actually succeeded in snuffing Henry's heart right out under their noses and without the Lost Boys' corporations, they have no idea where Pan is in Neverland and just when they thought their day couldn't get any worse, Pan let loose the variety of VDATLINTWTEYA on them. Very Dangerous Animals That Live In Neverland That Wants To Eat You Alive. Sure they got away relatively unscathed and are now sailing away back home she has no doubt Belle and Ruby and everyone else will be expecting a happy reunion. They'll be getting a reunion all right, just without the happy part.

"Emma, want some?" She looked up and Saw Tinker Bell standing there, one hand outstretched, her bun even messier than when she last seen her. She accepted the hot tea graciously, anything to take her minds off of the current situation.

"Still no sign of waking up?" Tink asked, sipping her tea before gagging at the vileness of Hook's cooking. His special Never Sapling tea was once of the reasons Tink wants to punch him. Emma shook her head, blond curls bobbing up and down, streaked with dirt and sand from the many days in Neverland.

"Gold says he can do better once we're back in town, at least Henry is stable now." Emma managed to choke out, barely holding back her tears. Tink scooped closer, trying to bring some sort of comfort to the distressed mother.

"Wendy gave me some pixie dust just then," Tink began, reaching into her pocket and pulled out the glass vial, "Will it help?"

"But Tink, your wings…"

"They can wait; Henry is the priority now isn't it?" She answered right back, rarely concerned for another's well-being, especially one she met for only a day and have not spoken a word to.

Emma sighed as she took the vial. If the story books she read as a child was true, the fairies value their wings the most and will stop at nothing to get it back, the most serious of all punishment was deprivation of their wings. To give up a chance to get it back…

A wave, a rock, a tumble and the ship went off-side. Tink could hear Hook open his lovely flask of beautiful curse words above deck, Regina shouting some spell to steady the vessel and the soft groans from Neal as he probably hit something hard again.

Emma set her tea-cup down on one of the wooden barrels and went up to find out what's wrong, did the mermaids attack again? Leaving Tink to tend to the fell-out-of-cot Henry. Her dirty fingers caught something in Henry's grimy maroon shirt and she pulled it out.

It was a pendant, a complicated Greenleaf etched in the semi-smooth yellow stone, threaded through with a long piece of red chain and a few black beads. Tink saw that pendant many times around Pan's neck, bouncing on his chest as he zips through the trees, chasing some dangerous animal. He told her about its origin…and its purpose.

It signifies a promise. A promise he will do anything to fulfill, the same reason it is given to him. _No matter the cost_ he had said, the same words mirroring another long gone. She still remembered that night, a long time ago; there was another party around the big bonfire. She found him alone, up in his tree house, away from everyone else, twirling the stone between the chain, not caring if it hit his face, just watching the Greenleaf spin in the air.

Maybe Henry isn't that far from help after all.

She tucked the necklace back into his shirt and sat back down on the wooden bench, resuming the sips of Hook's disgusting tea, a small smile stayed on her lips.

A nagging feeling refused the go away in the back of her mind. What is exactly the oath Pan made that he would give the most important artifact to promise it? What is in store for Henry? But more importantly, what is the price Pan is going to pay?

_No matter the cost_ he had said, _no matter the cost._

○◎□※○◎□※○◎□※

Regina wondered for the tenth time that day if Greg really was right. Do villains really get happy endings? Right now, the answer is a bog fat NO.

First her son got kidnapped, and then on the road to rescue him, they got attacked by a horde of blood thirsty mermaids, followed closely by a no better freak storm. After that the Charming Co. spend a week running around through a jungle, which houses a variety of dangerous animals and teenage boys, following a magic map. The Savior Emma then just has to go to some lover's fool errand. Sure Gold and she actually got something done, but now they have a ship full of incorporate boys; an evil, immortal teenage demon and a dying Henry to deal with.

Regina Mills' vacation is going alone fabulously.

It was almost dusk; the sun is setting in the horizon. She has finally stopped pacing around the living room of her mansion to look at the time. Gold is upstairs, trying to wake Henry with whatever he's got in his shop.

Everyone in the proximity of the living room is anxious. Hook is through with the second bottle of her best whisky. Regina is too occupied to care and figured she could blast a fireball at him later on. Neal couldn't stop biting his finger nails. The Charming couple is huddled together, looking out to the gardens, eyes distant and unseeing. Belle is desperately trying to read a book, but just ended up ripping page after page out of a blank notepad after she countered a teenage boy that sounded too much like Pan.

Emma, like her, is pacing. The pair of two moved around and around the length of the table, like a ballroom dance, perfectly in sync. The weirdest was Tink, she just couldn't stop fidgeting, and glancing towards the door every few second as if waiting for a miracle to just walk though and ring the doorbell.

There was a collective wave of attention when Gold finally stepped down from the stairs, his Dark One outfit still there, didn't bother to shed them when he just barged into his own shop. The same question burns in everyone's throats. _Is Henry all right? _Gold took a deep breath…and shook his head.

It's like a ten ton anvil, dropping from a height of ten thousand feet and crashed right on top of their heads. Gold was quick to speak up, desperately attempting to lift the weight, just a little.

"I've everything I could; even the bundle of fairy dust the blue fairy gave isn't enough. Henry is just not waking up." Gold sank into the first chair he felt and continued, "The pixie dust was a great help, I can only prolong the inevitable. Without some powerful magic, there is no hope." He tried to smile at the disgraced fairy, a thank you. She only nodded, eyes casting the door one last glance before burying her head in her hands.

"What if we got his heart and put it back into is body? Would that work?" Neal piped up, disbelieving.

His father shook his head, "It has been out of his system for too long, I'm afraid his body won't react kindly to it at all. We'll just be doing more damage than help."

Emma slammed her fist on to the table and yelled, "Aren't to suppose to be the all-powerful Dark One? Why can't you do it? Do you want him to die?"

Gold just smile bitterly, "The only thing that could save him would have to be Pan's magic, Miss Swan. The one that started the damn thing are the only one that could end it."

DINNNNNNNGGGGGG-DOOONNNNNGGGGGGGG

The shrill ringing of the doorbell startled everyone in the huge living room to no ends. With a heavy sigh, Regina waved her hand, suddenly too tired to get the door and explain what happened to some concerned or more likely curious towns people. Nobody bothered to look up and pay attention, not even Tink, all hoping the nosy person would get the hint and get lost.

"Why so glum, chums?" Regina's head snapped up at that arrogant voice, eyes reaching to her hair lines. In the middle of her hall stood the one and only Peter Pan, hands in pockets, smartly dressed in blue jeans, leather sneakers and a large cream-colored coat. The white scarf was gently yanked off shortly after his unexpected entrance and is now dangling over where his left hand met the his jean pocket. A typical teenager.

Tinker Bell, surprisingly was the first to stand up, arms slightly extended, as if she would run to Pan and hug him because thank goodness you're here. There was worry and fear in her eyes and wait was that…relief?

Then Pan smiled, not a cheeky grin or an arrogant smirk the family has grown accustomed to in the past week and a half. Just a plain old smile, eyes sad and wistful. Regina often saw that similar look on a person who is about to go on the execution stand and are prepared for hell to come.

"Where's Henry? I still owe him a promise."

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**A/N: I'm going to make this my first multi-chapter story that will eventually go over 3 actually chapters. Major exams coming up and I couldn't be bothered typing a 12000 something document. No time.**

**Going to try and keep character in character for as long as possible. Dark things ahead.**

**Updates will be irregular, but will be soon. I think.**


	3. Chapter 3: Punishment

**Chapter two: **Punishment

**Warning:** A bit OOC with pretty much everyone and especially Pan. Dark stuff in this chapter, I'm trying to keep the stuff as minimal as possible. No slash. Character 'Death' eventually.

**Disclaimers see Author's profile page.**

I would like to dedicate this chapter to **Neusuada,** whose reviews keeps me going without kicking the bucket halfway through, like I always done. Thank you for reviewing every chapter so far.

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_"You know full well the result if you up hold what you promised to that boy!"_

_"What do you suppose we do Felix? The pendant has given out; there is no getting it back."_

_"Think about what He'll do to you! That boy doesn't deserve it! He is not worth the cost."_

_"Who is to say that one doesn't deserve to live a life? I have his heart Felix; I can see all he had seen, what he had experienced, and all his memories with those he loves. I'm not taking all that away when I can help it. And I can help it."_

_"But to promise something like that…to that extent…it's madness."_

_"Perhaps, or perhaps everything will turn out all right in the end."_

_"Yes, but at what cost?"_

_"No matter."_

_"I know. Good luck then. Since I can't stop you from going. And don't fail."_

_"Have you learnt nothing in your long stay here in Neverland Felix? Peter Pan never fails."_

_"Does dying count as failing?"_

_"Of course."_

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He could see the Master opening the door. Barefoot trotted on the cold stone floor, His blood read robe trailing behind Him. When He bent down, it falls over him like a shroud. Fitting he supposed, he had wished he was dead for the past how many days he had been down here. He prayed and prayed the Master was here to end his life.

The Master put a hand on his forehead; he flinched wildly, trying to back away, anywhere be better than near Him! He took hold of the long leash connected to a collar on his neck and yanked. He went skating back to where he inched from. He lashes out His foot, hitting his already broken ribs. White hot pain flew up his spine; his mouth is too hoarse, too dry to scream for something as mild as this.

He twisted the lever on the east side of the wall; he felt his arms being slowly stretched up. Pain went up and down as his shoulder flared. He hung his head as feet left the ground, bronze hair falling into his once mischievous forest green eyes. He tried to pull on the thick chain bidding both of his wrists to the ceiling. He doesn't know why he bothered; all he ever got was the same response.

A hand flew across his once handsome face, now matted with blood and grime. The hand was cold, evil, full of malice he doesn't want to ever think about. A thin trail of blood drips down his chin. He is surprised; he didn't think there will be anymore left to spill.

"Behave." The Master whispered. A hot hand this time, boiling, caressed his throbbing cheek. It took everything he has left to stop moving. It seemed so different to the hand that taught him to spin maybe eons ago, or the hand that wiped away his tears when he dared to break down in front of her. He forbids himself to cry in this hell hole.

"Know that it hurts me to hurt you Peter." He spoke with a voice that's supposed to bring comfort. It brought everything but. He wonders how long until he caves in, until he begged to be set free, until he watched the life leave the brown eyes of the one he pledged to.

He vigilantly shook his head. The Master sighed in mock regret. He could feel the eagerness He expels to finally begin. He braced himself, prepared himself, and waited.

The whip came crashing down on his already bloody back. His broken mouth opened and out tore a tortured scream. He told himself to shut up, to not give Him the excuse to do more. He told himself to stop it.

_No matter the cost_, he repeated in his head, where His magic couldn't reach. No matter the cost he repeated as the one true master of Neverland brought its flaming whip upon Peter Pan's back. Again and Again and again.

* * *

_What is the cost_, the boy had asked. _No matter_, the mother answered. The boy believed her against his better judgments. She is the only one he had left, his father and brothers all went to the same foolish war against another kingdom and now his mother was going too. None of them cried. His mother was a strong warrior, and he believed. She would come home, she have to. In his clammy hand clutched four small black beads on a thin red chain. The things each of his brothers and father tossed him before riding off, and never coming back.

"Keep it safe Le'las!" They all had said.

Now his mother is leaving too. She clambered onto the brown horse, back straight, long auburn hair flowing in the late autumn breeze. She tossed him the stone as she rode away, spears glinting, armor shinning in the cold twilight.

"I promise Le'las! Keep it safe!" She yelled over the wind.

In that moment he knew. He put the small stone in between two beads and clasped the thing around his neck. It symbolizes a promise, a promise he knew his mother will never be able to fulfill. He trudged back into his manor house, tucking the necklace into his green tunic. When he eventually give this to another, he vowed that he would always keep whatever promise he pledged.

No matter the cost his mother told him. No matter the cost he repeated as he rubbed the Greenleaf etched on the yellow stone. Greenleaf, like his name.

He will fulfill every promise he makes, because he knows the promises his own family all had sworn to him will never be done. They all went into the forest; they all had left him back here, alone, in this dark dying land.

None of them are ever coming back. Every one of them had broken their promise.

※◎□～】【

_"What did you promise him?" A hand reached out, grabbed Pan's arm and jerked, twisting him to face the furious face of one pissed off Tinker Bell._

_Pan replied with a soft shrug, a complete mask of innocence on his face. "I don't know what you mean." He turned away and kept on walking. He needs to get out of the town's proximity before He comes and for his spells to take effect._

_Tink crossed over to get in front of him. "Don't play with me Peter Pan. I know what that stone stands for. What. Did. You. Promise."_

_"It doesn't concern you Tink." The innocent façade all gone, replaced by something akin to fear and urgency._

_"Why you saved Henry is your business. I need to know what you promised him so I can figure out what the cost is. That's what I'm worried about." She said, dead pan and bulls-eye to the point. As always._

_Pan kept his silence._

_"I disobeyed." He whispered. "He ordered me to let him die"_

_Tink's eyes widened, her mouth dropped. "Peter…" She hadn't called him that for nearly a decade, voice filled with panic and fear. "You said _keep it safe_." She breathed._

_"I'm sorry." He said. "He's coming. Keep them all safe Tink. Please." Pan took off running into the forest, deep in the woods, never once looking back at the frozen fairy. He let the magic that transformed his clothes to slowly leak out. He waited in a small clearing, waiting for him._

_Pan felt him long before he actually saw him, a great sleepless malice swooping in and out of trees. He didn't stop the bony fingers closing around his neck, didn't stop the sharp nails as they seeped into his chest. He didn't stop himself as he laughed, felling backwards, and welcomed the pain to descend._

_The scarf he wore, carried by the breeze, fluttered back to the white mansion's sidewalk. Into Emma Swan's half waiting hands. She put it up to her chin, buried in its scent. It has a strange design, up close she could tell it was soft green, white at a distance, with gentle strokes of red flowery lines decorating its surface._

_"It's made out of Never Blossoms." She jumped as Tinker Bell just silently appeared right next to the foliage. "I could recognize that shade anywhere. Pan called it wind flower for some reason. It's a bit like those cherry blossom trees in this world; I saw it in a painting in the library. Bigger than that and a lot scarcer."_

_"Oh." She looked down at the long scarf again, couldn't help but swipe her fingers across the silky surface, entranced by the red lines._

_"The red bits are red spider lilies." Emma's eye brow rose. "It was his mother's favorite. She always put one on their window sill when someone passes away. The scarf was like a talisman for his mother." Tink chuckled at Emma's incredulous expression. "Everyone has to have a mother Emma. It's just whether or not you managed to keep them."_

_"The Never Blossoms are a funeral flower back in the island, Pan always plant one when a Lost Boy went, well, lost. Few blossoms have actually flowered, most just died. He sings a little rhyme on the spot where the boy had died. It may not look like it, but those boys meant a lot to Pan."_

_"You seem to know a lot about him." Said Emma, suddenly suspicious._

_There was a small smile tugging on Tink's lips, "The Lost Boys are not the best way to tell one's past to. Especially one like Pan's. He trusts me and that's all that it matters."_

_Emma couldn't reply to that._

_"Nobody knows the rhyme's words or tune. Pan clears everyone out with a pair of hunting knives before he opens his mouth. A pity really, now there is no one here to sing it to him." She laughed mirthless and walked up the steps to the mansion's porch._

_"Keep it safe Emma." She laughed again, finding humor in some hidden meanings, buried beneath the words. Leaving Emma in the cold night air to contemplate what it all means._

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**A/N: I originally have another 1000 something words left in this chapter but I just couldn't bear it to go past the 2000 mark I set for this story. And also, mom is cooking those cheesy pastas and I'm hungry. This will be a double update.**

**The 'Greenleaf' name was taken from Legolas GreenLeaf, son of Thranduil Orpherion, prince of the Woodland Realm Mirkwood, part of the Fellowship of the Ring. One of my favorite characters in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I'm sorry, couldn't resist!**

**The scarf part was taken from Kuchiki Byakuya's _ginpaku kazahana no uzuginu, _which is a family heirloom scarf in the Kuchiki Clan. Kuchiki Byakuya is from the anime Bleach. Still can't resist. **

**Can anyone tell me what Pan's hair color is? I've got bronze and sand and brown and dark auburn.**


	4. Chapter 4: Penalty

**Chapter Three: **Penalty

**Warning:** A bit OOC with pretty much everyone and especially Pan. Dark stuff in this chapter, I'm trying to keep the stuff as minimal as possible. No slash. Character 'Death' eventually.

**Disclaimers see Author's profile page.**

**THIS IS A DOUBLE UPDATE, READ CHAPTER THREE BEFORE THIS ONE OR IT WILL NOT MAKE AN OUNCE OF SENSE!**

* * *

He wished the Master would just kill him for another time that day. Another part ached and prayed for the small town he so painstakingly held to protect. No protection spell will hold if he weren't there to chant them, to reinforce them, and he is not getting out anytime soon, last he checked.

He wonders for a thousand times, how are they faring in that town, the Lost Boys? He watched them board the Jolly Roger and set sail to the night. Some of them are even fighting the adults to get back on the soil of Neverland. He couldn't fathom why, he made the conditions on the island as difficult as possible so they can go without remorse when the company went to get them. He may have needed them at one time because he was dying of loneliness, but now, he _wanted _them, and there laid the difference.

Peter Pan doesn't understand why they want to stay. All of them are better off somewhere else. Away from him. As far away as possible.

He sense the door open, wide, letting some sunlight filter through, joining its brother from the ceiling 'window.' He grasped at the presence, eyes open and adjusting to the light, it was Emma? Strange. The Master had never let her do the tormenting before. It was always Henry, or Felix, or Tink, or even some of the boys he rescued and cared for once upon a time. He is not taking any chances. Master could and will throw him off if he had his dagger even in his hands. He wonders if the vile monster would kill him if he had a knife to His throat. He sincerely hopes so.

He waited until Emma is almost close enough to touch him…and sprang.

Emma pushed open the thick iron door and was rewarded with the stench of heavy blood. The only available source of light was the small ceiling window, if you can call a square the size of her palm a window, the bars in between divided up the sun's rays, but it was enough. The broken light was enough to illuminate the boy's features.

She just wandered through the forest after escaping the suffocating air of the white mansion, with Tink's hostility, Henry's bewilderment, Regina's worry faces, Hook and Neal's no help arguing and the nagging word of what's wrong of her parents. She just has to get away, so she wandered to the woods, even though Regina warned everyone in town to keep away from there. She found a well. Not the drinking well August took her a couple of months ago, but well with a thick stone latch and a stair case that goes down under.

She had never heard of Regina building this 'prison' like…thing before.

Back to the boy behind the thick doors.

Gone was the smug arrogant Peter Pan they met in Neverland, or the sad wistful Peter Pan she saw returning Henry back to them, and was replaced by, well, a boy. Messy bronze hair that fell in his eyes, ripped tunic, slashed leggings. Wrists in cuffs on thick chains that stretched to the dark wall. Bruises, large cuts and whip marks decorated his body. Blood was pooling around where he lay, smeared to every available space. Cracked lips and death pale skin. His dagger lies just inches next to the left hand cuff, surrounded by some of the dry, flaking liquid. His eyes are closed, at a glance.

"Pan? Pan! Peter!" She shouted

The boy stirred, revealing resilient but somehow lifeless emerald-green eyes that hardened the minute Emma went close enough, his pupils barely a slit. Pan snatched up the bloody dagger, pounced on the still shocked woman and held the weapon to her throat, all was silent.

"Pan, what happened to you?" Her tone urgent, panicking.

He remained quiet, his eyes murderous now, with a tint of confusion? Weapon at the ready.

"What is the last thing I said to Henry?" Quietly he said, like the calm before the storm. Emma shuddered.

She remembers that afternoon as if she was there again. The slightly confused Henry being hugged by everybody within reach. There was smiles and laughter and reassurance, some were brave enough to sneak a few glances at the boy standing near the doorway, hands in pockets, slouching against the wall, eyes sad but relieved and pained at the sight before him.

"Hey Pan," Henry spoke up, silencing the joyous occasion immediately. "Do you want it back?" He gingerly held up the necklace hanging around his neck, fingers smoothing over the Greenleaf, etched in faded green ink if you held the stone up to the right light.

Pan shook his head, "Keep it safe Henry, you might never know, it may come in handy someday." Softly chucking at some unseen irony only Pan, and now Tink, can find. Pan turned and walked straight out through the open doorway, his scarf fluttering behind him. This is what pan said, and what Emma repeated.

Pan backed away, dropping the dagger with a resounding clang and stepped into the pitiful amount of light. His injuries somehow went even worse in the sun. He stumbled, chairs rattling and slid down the wall. Two set of crystal droplets fell out of his emerald orbs and Emma went up to him, wrapping him with her arms and her red leather jacket, filled with comfort and home, reminding him of the things that he was ripped from all those centuries ago, and let the immortal being cry out his fears, tears and despair.

They stayed like that for a while, bits of dried blood and dirt made a gathering meeting at Emma's shoulder, like a young mother, bringing hope and light to a sun that just woke up screaming from a nightmare.

"What happened?" She asked, careful not to set him on edge.

"I disobeyed." He answered.

Seeing Emma's confused glance, he continued. "I was never the true lord of Neverland. I just woke Him up that's all. I'm like a vessel, chosen by him, to carry his orders to the last degree. If I live, he lives, and Neverland survives. I'm mortal, so I'll need the heart of the Truest Believer to keep holding on. I don't want to, but I can't say no. This is the first time I…" His eyes slammed shut, no doubt experiencing some unlucky memory. Emma could see more tears forming.

"What about the town? And the forest and everything if he's here?" She softly shrieked. A flash of anger flitted across Pan's handsome features. "I put up a protection spell around the town. He's not getting in when I'm still alive. Which won't be much longer I think." He finished with a mirthless chuckle. Emma's arms grasped him tighter.

"I will protect Henry. I promised." He gritted his teeth, determination and hatred burns through his entourage. The Peter pan she knew of flickered back, a ruthless being that would do anything to get what he wants.

She felt a smirk tugging on her lips, but paired with tears stinging her eyes. The infamous Peter Pan risked his life for them, for the ones she holds most dear, for everyone in this town. He owned them nothing, he didn't deserve this, beneath all that power he's just a lonely, lost boy whose family went 'away.'

"Emma, you should go. He'll be here soon. I don't…want you to…" The rest went trailing off into oblivion.

She listened. "I'll be back. I promise." She cast one last fleeting glance at the boy before sprinting out of the well. She could only catch a shadow of a look at the master of Neverland before He descended into blackness below.

"How I wish you wouldn't keep that." He had said, a tiniest smile formed on his dehydrated lips before Emma took off. She quietly smirked to herself. Since when had the leader of the Charming Co. ever listened to that boy anyway.

Peter Pan always keeps his promises, and now, Emma Swan is going to keep hers.

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**A/N: Please review, favorite. Tell me how many plot holes I have forgotten to plug but no flames please.**

**Clearing something up: Peter Pan was like a host to another soul. He has his own mind-set but is forced to obey whatever the Master tells him to. I think I showed it pretty well what happens in this chapter on what would happen if he didn't obey. The Master told him to take Henry's heart, get the intruders off Neverland and do whatever Pan is doing before the Charming Co. came. Obviously he did not do that because if he did, there won't be any of this story to go on with and I'll be devastated.**

**A giant fight with a monster coming up next chapter. There will probably another three more left to go before this is finished. **

**The Peter Pan in the real show is quite good-looking if I do say so myself. *giggles***

**I need a beta. Someone?**


	5. Chapter 5: Penetate

**Chapter Four: **Penetrate

**Warning:** A bit OOC with pretty much everyone and especially Pan.

**Disclaimers see Author's profile page.**

**THIS IS NOT THE LAST CHAPTER. THERE ARE STILL AT LEAST TWOO MORE TO GO.**

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The beast was inches from her face, its drools pooling down her shirt, Emma desperately pawed at the wet grass around her, feeling for anything, something, to dislodge this troll away from her. She will not end like this, she made a promise to Pan, and she will not end like this, she made a promise to Pan, and she also swore to herself that she will not break it like all her predecessors Tink had told her about. She could her screeches as Snow or Regina yelled out her name, running to her position.

A yellow binding chain roped around the beast's waist, and Pan yanked, hard. It flew, tumbling over and over in the air before landing unceremoniously on the forest floor. Emma scrambled up.

The true form of the all-powerful Master of Neverland, the one that imprisoned and tortured Peter Pan for about a week and a half, was a giant, single-minded, blood thirsty troll that wants to rip your links right out of their sockets. Who saw that coming?

The toll swung its chains at Pan, his getting-up-after-being-yanked-by-a-magical-chain-wielded-by-a-teanager time was surprisingly quick, successfully knotting the chain around a thick branch of a hundred something year's old tree. Pan got to the hulking beast first, vehemence glinting in his forest green and narrowed eyes, and he rapidly slammed his foot down at the tangled knot the chain is at the end, swinging his own chains, he launched them straight at its neck. With swift precision Pan's quick feet carried him along the large metal links, aided by his own, and unto the broad shoulders of the damned troll.

It screamed in anger, jerking and flailing at the weight being on top of him and the strangling pull of the chains about its neck. Breaking through the shield of scaly, thick shadows to get to its center has decreased the power of his shot when he had fired his spell at a distance. By bringing himself closer to such a vulnerable spot, Pan could be sure his spells hit home. He threw his hands up, palms out only seconds later, strong legs maintaining his balance upon the shifting beast and fired.

At that moment, it howled and turned, destroying Pan's aim. The blue fire crash down struck the tough skull helm of the beat, and was flung haphazardly to everywhere else.

Pan grunted in frustration. However futile, his attack did not go unnoticed. Howling like a demon it is, it flared and reared, desperate to top its former servant from its shoulders. Pan gasped and fell, losing his steady balance and slipping. The boy hit the ground hard of his left side and cried out. The chains that circled his wrist were torn off him. He lay there a moment, propped on his right elbow, wheezing.

It rounded on Pan's hapless form. The pirate, panic pulsing his heart, leap forward, furiously shoving those blasted wraiths aside with blade and hand. He yelled, slashing at the master, drawing his attention. It grunted, charged towards him. None of them noticed the wave to black arrows fired from the monster's back. Aiming for Pan.

"Hey!" Came a shout from the far corner of the clearing, where the rubble of broken branches and scattered leaves were piled high. Snow cocked another arrow at the beast; Tink hurled a knife right after Snow released. Henry stood behind them, his cheeks white yet vehement, half hidden in between the leaves.

Their distraction proved adequate, and though Hook was somewhat relieved the monster diverted its attention from the severely injured Pan, his worry was not beating for the boy everyone cares about, the warrior princess and the fallen fairy that he may or may not have a crush on. They no match for a monster of this caliber. The hulking beast thundered towards the trio, and if just realizing what they have done, they scattered and sought refuge in the trees.

Charming fought to see them, but the battle demanded his attention more as he blocked another mace hurtled at his direction. In the corner of his eye he saw the troll crush his fist into the ground with a rumble, further separating everyone.

"HENRY!" Someone cried. Was that Pan?

Henry has scrambled to a nearby oak and pressed his compact to it, hiding in the shadow and behind the strong tree. Emma saw the monster creep around the barrage of trees and she moved fearfully, the troll's feet ever one step ahead in the sick game of cat and mouse. In her one moment of distraction, a sword slammed into her arm. The momentum knocked her back into the foliage, her cutlass disappearing out of her hand.

The beast roared, whether in fury or sick minded bliss. Emma could barely hear it above the rush of her own heart and breath. Then came a desperate cry. "Mom!" There were suddenly arrows and spears fired from the troll to press her against the cold floor underneath and she fought desperately to rid herself of them. "Mom!"

She couldn't get up, and with a startling breath she saw the troll grasp Henry's leg to restrain him, its strong hard fist lifted overhead and poised to strike. She screamed to everyone in earshot. To save her son! She tore herself up from the floor, ripping her already tattered clothes in the process…Just as the beast brought its fist down.

In barely a heartbeat, two chains of yellow links and pale red fire snaked around Henry's waist and the troll's fist and it yanked, hard. The death hold on Henry was broken and he was flung to in the air. Henry squeezed his eye shut as he felt the emptiness beneath his body. The landing knocked every bit of air out of his lungs, but the pad was soft. He's OK.

In the same beat, Pan leap forward and drove his dagger straight through the beast's neck; pouring all the spells he learned that could blast open a skull into the small blade. In a furious last attempt, its arm reached to its back, found the boy and yanked him off and threw.

Fear pulsed through Emma right then as a thousand senseless thoughts stampeded through her stricken mind. Cold sweat prickled her skin. To her right she saw the beast fall, throwing a dark shape from its shoulder, the company with weapons still apprehensively raised. But she found that she could not care for that now.

She rushed to Henry's side as everyone else did. He's half sitting on a blue trampoline like thing. The boy groaned, grimacing and breathing quite heavily. "Is everyone OK?" the nerve to answer that question can only be found in the Charming family. Weariness and relief struck them all for both the safety of themselves and their friends and family. Pounding hearts slowed, tense muscles were drooping as the strength was snapped from limbs, rushed breaths quieting.

Everyone began to check their injuries, somehow squeezing out a smile or two, rubbing bruises or slowing blood from cuts. Everyone's relief over Henry's safety was still evident upon their faces, but they are all alive and relatively unscathed. Tink was the only one that bothered to do a head count. Her face cracked. "Where's Pan?"

Cold terror washed over Emma, and it was followed by the sickest sense of a memory momentarily forgotten.

Rapidly her eyes scanned their surrounding and she charged forward, praying that the stupid teenager was not lying on the grass floor as a corpse. Pan stood facing the remains of the entrance of the underground cavern. "Pan," she said urgently. He did not turn to face her, his hands at his side, his body still. A stiff silence followed that was filled with a strange but beautiful melancholic sound that seemed starkly misplaced.

Pan was singing. The melody was sad and ancient, but also with sense of life. Emma recognized it immediately, even though she only heard Tink talk about it once. Its forlorn grace was unforgettable. The lyrics are simple. Broken.

_When does the Never Blossom go when they dance?_  
_When they comfort the lonely child under its tree._

_When does they Never blossom go when they play?_  
_When they rescue a lost child to play in the stream._

_When does the Never blossom go when they sing?_  
_When they find the promised Child under the sea._

_Where does the Never Blossom go when they dies?_  
_They go with the Never child up to heaven. _

The rhyme for the passing of a Lost boy. Only for a Lost boy.

Pan was the first Lost Boy to ever set foot in Neverland.

Pan quietly finished his song just as Emma came to stand before him. When she did, she saw the horror he had sought to quietly hide from them. The entire right side of his stature was covered in slick red; his once green tunic turned a sick brown from the stain. Blood poured endlessly from a deep injury, the laceration in his shoulder violent and menacing. There were holes in his leggings where the black arrows had punctured through. The savior could only watch numbly as the blood rushed from various holes in torrents. His heart was pumping his life mindlessly away.

He opened his eyes and lifting his face to Emma, and they are filled with the sadness of one who knows the wound he has received to be mortal. There were not tears to slide down his weakened eyes anymore. "Hello Emma," he whispered. There was no fear in the meek tone. He gave her the smallest of smiles. "I am to die this this realm, after all."

Peter pan had never feared death, the stories that mothers tell to the children in bedtime to beware the night. Peter Pan had never feared the dark. And so, he welcomed the death that he so feverishly prayed for, to claim him.

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**A/N: Please review, favorite. Tell me how many plot holes I have forgotten to plug but no flames please.**

**I always wanted to leave a lot of blank spaces in between to created suspense. Do not kill me or you will never find out whether or not Pan lives or not.**

**Clearing something up: Pan has Henry heart! That means he has magic more powerful than anyone else. The wraith that was mentioned for a couple of times was made by the troll as a mindless minion thing. The reason I left out how Henry was saved and how Pan was brought to the underground well and how the master transformed into a stupid troll was 1) I can't be bothered to write it and I am still mourning my confiscated phone and 2) if I had put everything in there, there won't be any space for the readers' imagination. If I wrote everything then it wouldn't fit so well in the story and I would scrape this one to the bucket.**

**I got the magical bits from the Kidou spells from Bleach. Sorry. Don't regret it though.**

**The song was from Hell Girl's Sakura Uta. I just translated it to English and changed the lyrics around a bit. **

**I need a beta. Someone? Anyone?**


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